


To err is human

by Mag7FandF_FanGirl (RannaFic)



Series: Forgiveness and Redemption [1]
Category: Fast & Furious 6 (2013), The Fast and the Furious (2001), The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-22 18:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3739462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RannaFic/pseuds/Mag7FandF_FanGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When do you absolve someone for their actions? Is how bad the actions were all that matters? Can there be mitigating circumstances?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Suspicions

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after both Adjustments and Accommodations and Assets and Liabilities.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vin and Nathan think something is wrong with Ezra

Vin could tell something was wrong with Ezra, but unfortunately it was nothing concrete enough that he could describe it, let alone put a name to it. He knew confronting Ezra with nothing more solid than a vague feeling would result in a denial and more than likely the complete disappearance of whatever he was sensing. The most frustrating part was that the 'off' feeling came and went. It was rarely around when the whole team was together and strongest when the two of them were alone. Being along with Ezra was not something which happened often since Ezra cycled his escorts through all of the team members except Chris and outside of that the team was mostly all together. Vin suspected it had something to do with Ezra feeling exceptionally relaxed around him and he would not do anything to destroy that, but still ... he knew he had to do something. Finally he decided he would discuss it with one of his team since bringing all of them into the conversation would likely be counterproductive. Chris was his backup plan since he had learned to see through Ezra's obfuscations extremely effectively but he did not want to go immediately to that kind of an escalation. Initially he couldn't figure out who would be the best person to approach. He spent time carefully watching Ezra's interactions with everyone and came to the conclusion that the one other person Ezra was not as careful around was Nathan. Once he realized this he acted swiftly. The next day he offered to take Nathan out for coffee, something that resulted in much comment around the office since they were not the most obvious of pals. Nathan just smiled and said "Well then we should do something together then, shouldn't we" and that shut down the conversation.

Once they were sitting down with their coffee Vin was feeling tongue tied but Nathan smiled "I'll make it easy on you. You want to know what's up with Ezra." Vin laughed wholeheartedly. "Sometimes I think we forget you're an investigator too and not just a medic. So you've seen it. With me, I think he's just more relaxed with you ..." Nathan interrupted dryly "Either he thinks I don't care enough to notice, or he also has fallen into thinking of me as just the medic." Vin was adamant "He knows you care. You wouldn't have been his best man otherwise." Nathan looked solemn at that "Now I wonder if that was a good decision." They exchanged glances. Clearly they had come to the same conclusion, something must be up with Dom. Now the question was, what were they going to do about it.


	2. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezra's problem is revealed.

Ezra felt uneasy. He had been surprised when Dom had informed him (and god, just thinking that made him want to kick something) that he would be going with Vin and Nathan for some unspecified 'training' after work at the gun range. He had learned better than to object though. His life was just better if he went along with everything Dom said without any commentary at all. No 'backtalk' as Dom had started to call it. It was exceedingly strange that they had gone directly to Dom instead of talking to him first. He had prepared for this meeting with his teammates almost as if he was on a case with ready answers for every question he could imagine. Sometimes he was unable to understand why he had not solicited the assistance of one of his teammates, but every time he thought about doing so the sheer embarrassment of it stopped him. Furthermore, he was well aware of the irreversible consequences. His team liked Dom, even to the point of including him in their little family, but they were firmly behind Ezra and this revelation was not one that relationship would ever be able to completely recover from. He was not yet ready to "burn the bridge". Lately though he had been wondering whether his team were becoming aware that something was wrong despite his best efforts. He had a growing suspicion that Vin was beginning to see through his charade, and with the addition of Nathan to this meeting he had reflected back on some fairly penetrating looks from Nathan. Well he could not duck out of this meeting so he might as well get it over with. He was fairly certain that he could bluff his way through it and then after that he would just have to be more cautious around those two. It was disturbing to think of needing to be on his guard around Vin. While he had long adopted his whole team as family Vin was still special. The two of them just seemed to think the same way about so many things. However he did know that Vin was the most observant person on the team and in hindsight he should have given more consideration to that fact and been more careful.

As Ezra walked into the room he stopped abruptly. There was no reason the range should be so dark. He heard a noise and turned, but not fast enough, and before he could counter he was flat on his back. Something subconscious stayed his more lethal responses and in a second he identified it. There was a hand cushioning his head. He grinned quietly to himself, it could only be Vin. Well he was certainly up for a good fight. He braced himself getting ready to retaliate and then froze in alarm when he was suddenly pulled to sit up and something dropped over his head and pulled his arms tight against his sides. He threw Vin off just as the lights came on. "What do you mean by this assault against my person Mr Tanner?" He was not seriously angry just annoyed but that escalated quickly to alarm when he heard movement behind him. "What?" and then suddenly he felt the cold of air against his back, as what could be only Nathan plying his knife resulted in the removal of a large section of the back of his shirt. He couldn't help it he laughed, and before he thought blurted out "If only it were that blatant" Vin's eyes narrowed "You were serious just there. Alright Ezra, what's going on!" Clearly the jig was up. He could almost find it in himself to be glad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about it but I just could not buy that Dom would ever physically abuse a member of his family no matter what.


	3. Did you ever consider?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan has a theory

Ezra sat back in relief. For a while there he had been unsure that he was ever going to get Vin and Nathan to calm down. Somehow he had thought that since there was no physical component to anything that was happening it was not that bad. Based on that assumption he had not really censored his description of what was going on. However to his surprise his friends disagreed violently with his position that it was not a major issue. If he had been asked before he would have thought that Nathan would be the easy one. Seeing Nathan honestly pondering taking a knife to Dom had been a frightening experience. In the end he had needed to make it clear to Nathan that he would cut him out of his life completely, even leaving the team if necessary, to get him to back down. He had been serious too, and Nathan had recognized it but it had not been a pleasant experience for either of them. Paradoxically the vicious argument had made him even closer to Nathan and Vin if that were possible. He recognized the concern for him behind the anger and was grateful for it. Now however they were at an impasse. Vin and Nathan were adamant they would not allow him to be alone with Dom until this was solved. Unfortunately as his official bodyguards they could enforce such an edict both on their own or if necessary with the backing of the council especially if they should, god forbid, get Fredrick involved. Ezra was frustrated. If this was solvable, he had no idea how to solve it or he would have ages ago when it first started. He said as much and Nathan paused and finally thought about what he was saying. His question, when it came, puzzled Ezra. "When did all this start exactly? When did the comments actually become vicious, the silent treatments start, all of it." Ezra had to think about it "Maybe four or five months ago". Nathan paused at that. "Well in that case I may have a way out of our deadlock. Did you ever think there could be something medically wrong? Dom had that accident about six and a half months ago didn't he?"

Ezra looked poleaxed. "I never thought, I just thought he had finally ..." his voice trailed off. Nathan and Vin exchanged glances. They knew that some variant of Dom being tired of him or realizing he wasn't "good enough" was at the end of that sentence, but at least Ezra had made enough progress he knew not to articulate such a sentiment. Nathan thought about it some more and the more he considered it, the more sense it made to him. It was a good thing Dom had not started physically abusing Ezra because if he had, even Ezra's threats would not have stopped him and Vin from taking severe action against Dom. However the verbal and emotional abuse had to stop too. They knew Dom had hurt Ezra in the past when he lost his temper. Even so this was different, none of what Ezra was describing fit any of the patterns they knew would make Dom lose his cool. When Dom usually flared up into a rage he just as quickly got over it and his actions at such times were clearly a result of his rage. The deliberate desire to hurt shown by the kinds of comments Ezra was describing, along with the silences which Dom had to know would make Ezra feel as though he were nothing, were not like Dom. It was clear to his friends that this could not be allowed to continue. Nathan made a decision "OK we're going to take him to the hospital today to get a complete workup" Ezra looked uncomfortable. "He might not want to go." Vin's response to that accorded exactly with Nathan's feeling. "If it comes to that we would really enjoy convincing him."

Ezra adjusted the hidden microphone that Vin and Nathan had gotten him to lift from JD's stash on his desk and walked in his front door. It had taken a lot of work to get them to hold off and wait until Ezra talked with Dom. The mic was a compromise between allowing Ezra to handle it himself and having them come in and talk to Dom. These days Dom seemed to spend most of his time in the living room watching television. In fact now that Ezra thought about it that was a huge pointer to Nathan being right. Since when had Dom considered racing "boring because I'll win too easily". Ezra walked in and tried to offer up a neutral topic and hopefully put Dom in a better mood. Ezra remembered well his vicious mood of yesterday. "Dom, what would you like for dinner? I was thinking steak and mashed potatoes, or maybe roast chicken." He had learned in the last few months not to just present Dominic with dinner as a 'fait accompli' or to offer any of what Dom now referred to as "that fancy crap you like". Dom looked at him curiously "What's wrong? Bad day at work? We can go out for food if you like." Ezra felt thrown for a loop. The worst thing about Dom's temper these days was how unpredictable it was. If he was always the aggressively angry person that Ezra now encountered way too often for his liking Ezra would have left a couple of months ago, but sometimes he was like this, almost his old self. Someone who was concerned, caring, happy. Apparently now yesterday's mood was all over and Ezra guessed he was supposed to just pretend that all was right with the world. Suddenly he couldn't do it, not any of it. Not the pretending that everything was OK and not the hiding what was going on from Dom. He realized from Dom's reaction that he had given away his disturbance immediately. Now that he though about it just using 'Dom' was a giveaway of his state of mind and he was bad at deceiving Dom at the best of times. 

"Dom I ..." Ezra paused and then pulled the little pen shaped mic out of his pocket. He knew Dom would recognize it since he had showed him a similar one earlier when JD had first introduced them. Dom had wanted something completely disguised that could still enable his team to keep track of him. "Vic and Nathan found out about your chastisement of me and they feel that perhaps you need to be evaluated. I wanted to discuss it with you myself but they insisted I have one of these as a safety precaution. I apologize for the deception. I know ..." Ezra stopped immediately when Dom held up his hand for silence. He had absorbed the lesson that when Dom wanted him to stop talking that it was not worth it to say even one more word. He could hear Vin yelling at him through his earpiece but was finding it difficult to concentrate on what he was saying. He wasn't afraid of Dom but ... everything these days was too unpredictable for him to be comfortable ignoring Dom. Not following that directive to be silent had resulted in occasional punishments or much worse and way too frequently a bout of furious yelling followed by a period of being completely ignored. To Ezra's surprise Dom sounded abashed "I know I have not always been fair to you for quite a while now. I don't think a therapist will actually help us though since they would find it difficult to comprehend the reality of your status. I admit though what's going on now isn't working..." Dom was cut off by loud banging on the front door. He sighed. "That would be your team I imagine. Go and let them in so we can talk this out." Ezra obediently went to let in Vin and Nathan but his mind was whirling. It wasn't much, but that little speech was at least an admission that Dom admitted to some responsibility. Ezra had been starting to feel that maybe Dom was right and he was the problem. That he was not respectful enough, not obedient enough, not submissive enough, not considerate enough, just plain not adequate. Now maybe they could get somewhere.

Nathan had never had to work so hard to suppress the urge to hit someone. Hearing Ezra be so tentative and then just shutdown to silence like that had been extremely disturbing. He was going to have a long talk with Ezra once they got the immediate issue with Dom settled. He walking into the living room with Vin stalking behind him and immediately clarified for Dom. "We're not talking about a therapist. I am pretty sure there's a physical reason behind all this. Have you had any physical symptoms since that crash you had a few months ago?" Dom looked at him surprised and then said slowly "Yes actually. I've been in severe pain on and off since then. It's been gradually getting worse. I've been trying to pretend everything is alright. I just couldn't handle the idea of paralysis or something of that nature. It feels so unfair to have everything end for me now and I admit I've been occasionally taking my anger at the situation out on Ezra. I find it hard to think through the pain and sometimes I just hurt so much ... I want him to hurt too." Ezra looked stunned but Nathan felt a deep satisfaction along with his anger. "We're taking you to the hospital to get evaluated right now!"


	4. The why is discovered.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dom discovers why you should always consult your physician

Dom looked up as the doctor entered. "Well Mr Toretto it appears that Nathan's suspicions were correct. Your pelvis is badly cracked and there is some hip damage but you will be glad to hear that everything is correctable with time and care. I have arranged for you to have surgery as soon as possible, in fact we are going to schedule it as an emergency so it will be in two days, after that there should be a couple weeks recovery time but you will be as good as new. I have also prescribed some strong pain killers which should alleviate the pain. Any questions?" Dom could not believe it. He had been so afraid to talk to any medical professional because he had been so sure the answer would be that he could not be helped. So sure that his career and his normal life were over. "Will I be able to drive again?" The doctor smiled "I would not recommend getting in more accidents any time soon but if you take it easy and follow instructions you will be able to drive again." Dom looked over at Nathan and Vin, he found himself too ashamed suddenly to even glance at Ezra. "I do not know what to say. I was a complete idiot not to have done this sooner." The doctor interrupted at that "Indeed you were, Mr Toretto if you had gone another month this way, perhaps even a few more weeks the damage would have been permanent. You have good friends here" Dom's response was completely sincere "Better than I deserve." 

Ezra felt as though he could not even process what to think. He was cycling between emotions almost faster than he could name them. Nathan had been unreservedly pleased to be told the doctor's diagnosis, and while Vin was not quite so upbeat at least he had come down from what Ezra had privately thought of as DEFCON 1. That at least was an unalloyed relief. Ezra had been worried that he was going to have to figure out a way to assign Dom a bodyguard and it would have been immensely difficult to find one who could defend against Vin "going rogue" so to speak. Now he would have to face the reactions of the rest of his team and he knew there would be more anger than he was currently willing to deal with. Ezra sagged a little against the wall for support. More than anything else right now he was exhausted. Vin, eagle eyed as ever, noticed and whispered something to Nathan who had Ezra sitting in a chair drinking a cup of water almost before he could blink. He relaxed and closed his eyes he was just going to take a minute and not think.

When Ezra finally sat up and opened his eyes Nathan was gone. Vin looked over at him and volunteered the information that he was picking up the prescription for Dom. Ezra looked over at Dom who was lying back on the exam bed with his eyes closed. Dom turned to him and their eyes met. Ezra was astounded by the depths of pain and sorrow in them. He could not remember the last time he had seen that emotion from Dom. There had been mostly anger, perhaps occasional sprinkles of happiness but not much else. Dom's voice was quiet "Ezra... Sunny I don't think I can begin to tell you how sorry I am. I was... I was sure that I had done something permanent to myself when I had the courage to think about it at all. I figured my racing was over and somehow, I blamed you for it. I guess I was angry because I knew you don't love it the way I do and you would tell me that you didn't think of me any differently that you wouldn't see me as any less. I know it makes no sense. You've always understood how important it was to me and supported me doing it even when it resulted in me making choices that were bad for you. I was just so angry and I needed someone to take it out on and you were there, the easy target." Ezra felt, of all things, guilty. "I knew were angry with me, blaming me for what was wrong with your life. I did not know how to fix what was broken" He sighed unhappily "I suppose if I was a proper toy I would have been able to help you process your anger properly. If I was a better spouse I would have pushed back more, made you tell me what was the matter and you would have been diagnosed sooner, saving you all these months of pain." To his surprise rather than agree Dom stared at him in disbelief. "Jesus Sunny, none of this was your fault in any way. It's my failure not yours." Ezra was honestly surprised "I allowed you to be in pain for months. If it had not been for Nathan ..." Dom cut him off sharply "What the hell were you supposed to do? Read my mind? I never even told you I was hurting." Before Ezra could respond Vin stepped in "Enough! Ezra you're tired and this has all been a little overwhelming. Once Nathan comes back we'll take you guys home and put the both of you to bed. We can resume this little discussion in the morning." Vin adamantly shut down any attempts to resume discussion until both Ezra and Dom gave up and they waited quietly for Nathan and the trip home.


	5. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia and Brian find out what has been going on

Ezra woke to the smell of breakfast. He was initially confused but then it all came back to him in a rush. Now that he was not so utterly overwhelmed he felt an immense sense of relief. It was like waking from a nightmare. Life no longer stretched out forever with nothing to look forward to except an endless confusing roller coaster of fear, stress and anger, interspersed with shorter and shorter periods of hope and happiness. Finally Dom's behavior was explainable and even better was not his fault or at least not directly. He was not failing except insofar as he had not made Dom get checked out before which he still felt guilty about. Now he supposed came the hard part. Sorting through what this meant for them going forward. He resolved for now they would just get through the surgery and afterwards, well he would not worry about that now.

Brian was cooking bacon, eggs and pancakes in the kitchen when Ezra walked in. "Brian? When I retired Vin and Nathan were here. May I ask what has occurred to account for your presence in their place?" Brian grinned at him, Ezra supposed that was a little bit over the top for a conversation with Brian but he was still a bit shaken up to have his world transformed so profoundly and he always took refuge in formality. "They had to call a meeting with the rest of your team to bring them up to date. They thought it would be better to give things a while to calm before visiting Dom so they filled in Mia and me and had us come over." Ezra winced. If he was not pleased with his part in Dom having suffered in pain for months he was sure Mia would be even less so "I take it Mia was not pleased with these events." Brian's response was unaccountably cheerful "Oh she was livid. I've never seen her so furious. If you want to go see her she's outside." Ezra turned towards the back with a sigh. He expected anger but had hoped that it would not rise to such a level "I suppose I had better go face the music so to speak and apologize." Brian looked at him in astonishment as he left "What the hell are you talking about?" Ezra did not respond, if Brian did not recognize the need for an apology that was all to the good.

Ezra walked into the back yard to find Dom looking defensive and Mia not quite shouting but almost "... should have talked to someone and all this could have been avoided." Ezra felt unaccountably shy. He valued his relationship with Mia and hated to think this might damage it severely. "Mia, I must offer my sincerest apologies. I do know I should have been more proactive in finding out what was wrong with Dominic. In honesty I should have made him visit the doctor directly after the accident. I was too concerned with my own embarrassment to discuss what was going on with you or anyone else. Maybe if I had done so you would have realized the cause of his abnormal behavior and he would not have suffered for such a long period of time." Mia responded immediately "Damn right you should have come to me long ago about this. Allowing him to behave like that is completely unacceptable ... wait what?" Ezra was confused "You are not annoyed with me for my inadequate care of your brother?" Mia looked flabbergasted "Are you nuts? That's all his fault the stoic idiot. I'm mad at you for not coming to me for help which you promised to do before." Ezra paused "I .. I thought you would see me as having failed to put in enough effort to address his complaints. Not to mention on the previous occasions we discussed this we were referring to ... well something physical." He didn't know what to say "I was too afraid I would lose your affection also, that you would think less of me." He felt as though a weight had been lifted and suddenly he felt like an idiot "I should have known better." Mia smiled at him "That's better though you better not ever, ever do such a thing again." She turned back to Dom suddenly "How you're going to explain all this to John Fredrick I can't imagine." Ezra was adamant. "No. There is no way we are telling him." Mia looked uncomfortable "Well you're kind of too late on that one. I was so mad when I heard that, well, I called him. I did not have any details so in the end he demanded that the two of you and well, all your local bodyguards are summoned to go see him a week to the day after the surgery and you have to place a video call to him this afternoon." Ezra was horrified.


	6. The most unpopular man in the room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fredrick becomes involved

Dom felt massively uncomfortable, hardly surprising given the number of glares he was getting in his own living room. Brian and Mia were still anything but congenial and things only got worse from there. Amazingly the rest of team 7 had managed to come into the house and sit down without attempting to murder him. Ryan Kelly's team had almost done the same, but at the last moment Kirk had taken a swing at him and had to be pulled off by the rest of his team. The real surprise for Dom had occurred when Roman showed up. When Dom had opened the door Roman had simply attacked. Even team 7 pulling him off had not stopped him trying to get at Dom. He had not stopped until Ezra told him in no uncertain terms to "Cease and desist immediately" All in all Dom felt things were going really badly and he knew quite well they were only going to get worse.

At exactly 8pm Dom's phone rang. Dom knew without even having to look that it was Fredrick. Dom almost wished for the days before video calls though if he was honest with himself that most likely would have resulted in Frederick sending one of his collection teams. The trainer who appeared first was all business "OK let's see what we are dealing with here? First off was there any physical component of any kind to this abuse?" Ezra immediately jumped in "Dominic rarely punished me in the months while this has being going on and then never excessively. Also Sir I must object to characterizing it as abuse. Perhaps it was .." Abruptly Fredrick stepped in and cut him off immediately "I know you well enough Ezra not to trust your characterizations." Fredrick's eyes locked with Dom's "Afraid you would hurt him huh." Dom did not beat around the bush "Yes. Whenever the anger got the better of me I knew better than to attempt to punish him. At best he'd be in pain at work the next day which I was determined to avoid and at worst I might actually injure him. Even at my worst I could not take that chance." Fredrick did not look mollified "So instead you just used what you knew of his weaknesses to take him apart verbally, damage his confidence, crush his spirit." Ezra tried to interrupt and Fredrick snapped out "Don't interrupt again Ezra or I will not allow you to talk again until I ask for a response." Chris stepped forward at that "Now just one minute" Fredrick's glare was homicidal. "You should have known something was going on. Anyone here want to argue that they did not fail badly?" Nathan responded to that "In truth Mr Fredrick Vin did notice there was something wrong and started this whole investigation." Vin jumped in immediately "I did not do as much as I should and without Nathan we would never have figured out what was wrong. Besides it is not fair to blame the team. Ezra is very good at what he does and he was determined to act as though nothing was wrong." Fredrick clearly calmed "The two of you did an exemplary job. Anyone else have any defense?" The shiver that went around the room at those words was almost palpable. Ezra closed his eyes clearly about to response but Fredrick preempted him continuing with deadly calm "Ezra, tell me now and completely and in detail what Toretto has been doing. Do not leave anything out. Are we clear?"

Ezra backed away from the phone as though it had struck at him but Fredrick's voice rang out "Freeze". Ezra stopped moving but his whole stance screamed of his misery. Fredrick's voice gentled "It will be OK I promise." Ezra's voice became accusatory "No. You'll hurt him if I say anything." He looked around at all of them suddenly "All of you would have wanted to hurt him and I knew I did not want that." His voice firmed suddenly "I will not have Dominic hurt not by anyone." Fredrick's voice was hard and dangerous "Enough. Tell me now Ezra. I promise you do not want me assuming things. That would be much worse." Ezra looked defiant but then suddenly deflated "It started out just with complaints, dinner not being to his liking, not cleaning up the house enough. Then just ... Dom wished me to behave more like a typical toy, initially just a more respectful tone but eventually kneeling, not speaking unless spoken to but,... no matter what I did it was never enough. Then the yelling started. He accused me of plotting against him and if I defended myself it just got worse. He said I was a little con artist who could always talk my way out of anything. That I was always trying to trick him. It was the roller coaster ride that I hated the most. I could never tell whether today would be a good day or a bad one. I could never tell what would set him off. Now, it makes sense, it was the amount of pain he was in. However I did not know that. It was just random to me. Some days he would be wonderful again and then without warning, suddenly I was useless, terrible, the source of all his problems. " Ezra's eye's filled suddenly "Sometimes, I felt like I hated him, that it would be good if he was hurt, then I hated myself for feeling that way. I didn't know what was going on. I should have done more but I didn't know what to do." Fredrick's voice was calm. "We will decide what to do once Toretto's physical problems are addressed. However Ezra I WILL be making sure that you NEVER again consider hiding such things from me. I will see all of you" his eyes scanned the room "when Toretto has fully physically recovered" With that, before Dom could even draw breath to respond, the phone clicked off.


	7. Time to face the music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fredrick has a talk with Dom

As they exited the cars in front of the prison Chris saw that Fredrick was going overboard making his presence felt. Instead of being met by his men in their regulation prison jumpsuits there were two groups. One group included members of his "outside collection team" in their traditional black and the other had men in dark red jumpsuits that Chris had never seen before. To Chris' surprise Ezra showed no hesitation at all but walked straight over to the men wearing dark red. They started leading him off and Chris could not help noticing that they were going in the opposite direction to the one being indicated by the team taking charge of everyone else. "Hey!" Chris was not about to have anyone walk off with Ezra without a fight, not after what had happened with Dom. One of the men turned around and walked back towards him after waving the other two off with Ezra. Chris was belligerent "Where are you taking him?" The man scowled at Chris "Oh now you care?" Chris had been angry for a while now and embraced an opportunity to take it out on someone. "He's my agent and my friend of course I care. What's going on?" The man stepped forward, surprisingly not intimidated at all "He's also your responsibility, but you have not been doing your job properly have you. So now I have to take up the slack and make sure he NEVER fails to report this kind of abuse again. That he's afraid to! You think I want to do that? He's one of the best to come of this place and he'll never feel the same way about me again. I was proud of him. He liked me and now ..." Chris felt his anger burst like a pricked balloon. "I apologize. I just I was looking for someone to take my anger out on and you were the first viable target. Ezra, he might surprise you, he doesn't tend to hold grudges." The man calmed as rapidly as Chris had. "I guess I was doing the same. I don't want to hurt him but .. I have little choice here. Do you really think he'll forgive me." Vin stepped in from behind Chris. He had stepped away from the group when he'd seen Chris leave. "Yes" The man smiled suddenly "Thanks. You better get back to the team. They're about to run out of patience and none of them are safe guys to piss off." Chris looked over and Vin took one look and started pulling him back to the group. Chris went. He felt better after venting some of his anger.

Once they were back together the group started off towards Fredrick's offices. Vin's voice was quiet "He's wrong you know. You didn't screw up with Ezra." Chris's voice was full of self loathing "You figured it out. So did Nathan." Vin looked at him "I'm a special case. You know I see more than anyone and Ezra he was more relaxed with me and more careless with Nathan. Which I'm sure he'll be getting an earful about someday soon." Chris must have looked puzzled because Vin smiled "Means either he underestimated Nathan's abilities or he thought Nathan wouldn't care as much." Chris winced on Ezra's behalf. He knew the undercover agent would be in for a very long and prolonged lecture on that one. "I'm just glad he slipped up." Vin's response was sincere "So is he. Hopefully there will not be a next time. In fact I suspect Fredrick will make sure of it."

Fredrick was waiting for them in his office. He nodded towards a row of chairs against the back wall. "If you could all be seated. I wish to hear the complete explanation from the beginning of how what was going on was discovered, your impressions, everything." His eyes hardened as he looked at Dom "Toretto you can save your perspective of what has been going on until afterwards." Fredrick sat quietly as they all took turns explaining. When they were done he sighed. "Fine. Toretto if you would give your version. The basic facts on what has been going on. I am entirely uninterested in your feelings or justifications so leave those out please." Dom visibly flinched but his recitation was clear and he made no attempt to make excuses. At times Fredrick would stop him and demand confirmation of details.

Finally it was over and Fredrick leaned back in his chair "Thank you Mr Toretto. I have only one further question. Do you mean to fight me or will you accept your punishment? Please note it will happen regardless but it will go better for you if you cooperate." The menace was clear and unambiguous but Dom simply acquiesced. "Good" Fredrick smiled but it was not pleasant. A panel in the ceiling slid back and a chain with cuffs attached dropped down. "Please put those on" he turned to Brian, Roman, and the rest of team 7 and team 8. "If you would cooperate with my men cuffing you to your chairs? We wouldn't want you causing an issue" JD looked nervous but Buck calmed him with a look. Finally Frederick's men took positions, one next to each chair and one extra who went to the desk and pulled out a belt. Fredrick queried Dom "I presume you are now fully healed?" At Dom's nod Fredrick nodded "Make it 60." Mia looked like she want to object but Fredrick's stare was enough to quiet even her. Everyone watched in silence as Dom was stripped. Fredrick's voice was hard "We would not want to risk the doctors hard work. Start at his shoulders and work your way down and back up again." Even with the strokes spread out Dom found that once they started overlapping they were extremely painful. He gasped around 30 and by 40 he was panting hard.

Watching Dom being punished left Chris conflicted. Initially he would have wanted to do it himself but by the end he felt less resentment towards Dom and he was pretty sure the others present felt the same way. When it was over Chris found himself asking "I'm not sure why you thought we would interfere in this. When this started I was quite happy to let you hurt him. In fact your actions may have backfired. Now if anything I feel less like hurting Dom myself." Fredrick looked amused. "No Mr Larabee that was not what I was concerned about you interfering with." He turned to Nathan and Vin "Mr Tanner, Mr Jackson you may leave. His eyes lingered on Mia. Mrs O'Conner I am afraid you must leave as well." Mia looked indignant "Ezra is my brother in law and my friend, as well as my responsibility as Dom's sister." Fredrick almost smiled "I am sure you feel responsible for him and for that I am grateful. However the council is a somewhat paternalistic and sexist organization, so it does not recognize your responsibility and I promise you. You do not want to be here." He nodded to his men. "Please escort them to the warden's office. They can meet us when we are done here."


	8. Consequences

Once Vin, Nathan and Mia had left there was a knock on the door and Ezra walked in. As soon as he saw Dom he turned to Fredrick clearly furious but Fredrick barked out "On your knees. You will speak only to respond to my questions." To Chris's surprise Ezra followed the orders without a word. Fredrick looked and him and his voice was gentle "Ezra I am going to give you a choice. We have here ten of your bodyguards. The ones who are most responsible for failing to stop your owner from abusing you. I owe them all 5 strokes each. I will give you a choice for each one whether you wish to watch them being punished or take the punishment yourself." Ezra's response was immediate "I will take the punishment for all." Team 7 gasped "No! Ezra you can't" Ezra looked unmoved "I won't stand by and watch you hurt" Chris respond was dry "But we have to. You'd do that to us." Ezra looked at him and Chris voice was quiet but completely adamant "Please Ezra don't do this to me." Ezra looked down then up at Fredrick again "Alright then, not Chris. He's too invested in being the leader but not the others" He looked at them "I'm sorry I can't" There was a chorus of objection but it stopped immediately when Frederick held up his hand for silence. Fredrick looked at Chris "If you try anything at all I will quadruple your punishment and make Ezra take it." He nodded to the man by Chris and he undid the cuffs. Fredrick nodded to the desk. Chris stiffened but he walked over to the desk and placed his hands on it. Fredrick's voice was cool. "Proceed" Chris made no sound and afterwards went back to his chair and sat without protest. Fredrick looked at him "May I have your word not to interfere" Chris nodded. Fredrick nodded to Ezra "Your turn" 

As Ezra walked over Dom finally spoke. "He's my toy. You have no right to touch him without my permission and I do not give it. You want to punish someone punish me. I am the one who committed the abuse. I should pay for it." Fredrick for the first time looked less homicidal. "I would double the punishment this time. That would be 120 strokes." Ezra gasped but Dom's voice was calm "That is acceptable" Fredrick's eyes glinted "No deal" He nodded and the trainer called out a name "Buck Wilmington" as the strokes started to fall. Fredrick's trainer alternated between Ezra's back and his buttocks but Ezra had clearly been punished before any of this started and from the first strokes on his bottom was gasping. The names continued "John Dunne, Josiah Sanchez, Ryan Kelly" each man finding the spotlight turn towards him. Through it all Dom struggled against the chains and then started pulling on them but it became clear that nothing would budge. By the 20th stroke Ezra cried out and Dom simply broke. He looked at Fredrick and there were tears forming in his eyes. "Please, stop. Please not him, I hurt him enough, me not him." Fredrick lost his impassive look "Would you agree to 200 Toretto" Dom simply nodded but Fredrick smiled bitterly "Pity". He nodded and it continued "Kirk Gustin, Brett Jordan" by then Dom was openly crying and all he could say was "Please". Fredrick simply ignored him and it continued "Doug Stone, Roman Pearce, Brian O'Conner" and then, finally, it was over. He looked at Dom. "I had originally planned to give him the same choice for a further 10 count for you but I don't think there is any need for more. I think my point has been made and I do believe Dom has been punished enough." He waved and his men released Dom and Ezra ran into his arms.

Fredrick watched them hold each other for a few minutes and then cleared his throat. When Dom looked at him his voice was quiet. "If you had been able to take that calmly Mr Toretto I would have removed Ezra from your care. Whether he wished it or not. As it is I would strongly suggest that you do not abuse Ezra ever again for any reason or I will not be responsible for my actions. Even given that Ezra would never speak to me again. You may all go." Dom looked at him and then whispered something to Ezra. Ezra shook his head but Dom's voice was stern "Yes." Ezra looked at Fredrick and sighed "I do not hate you. I am livid right now since the idea of you or anyone hurting Dom enrages me but ... talk to me in a month. It will be possible to appease me at that time." Fredrick looked utterly astounded and Ezra shook his head "You really were under the impression that nothing would absolve you of this. I shall have to credit Dom for being right on that one." Then he walked for the door "Let us depart." Fredrick looked at Dom "Thank you". Dom waved Ezra out the door with his friends and then looked at this man who had become an odd kind of father figure for Ezra and knew that all this had been done to try and make sure Ezra would be safe. This whole thing had left him with an odd mixture of sorrow and relief. As much as he had hated this he finally had the feeling that eventually things would be all right and that this had sorted some things for them that would never have been addressed otherwise. He owed Fredrick for that "He researched you" Fredrick looked startled and then dismayed. Dom clarified quickly "He knows exactly who you are. How dangerous and how powerful. He knows what you have done. In an odd way it is comforting. You will never use him for anything, you don't need to. You will never ever feel that whatever he does is terrible or unforgivable because you have done much worse. It makes you safe to trust, to believe your care for what it is." Frederick looked astounded "I was prepared to lose his regard for me to make sure he was safe. I am glad to know I did not." Dom smiled "He's something special isn't he." Fredrick's affirmative was clearly heartfelt. 


	9. Facing Lloyd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to face Lloyd and Shea

Lloyd shouted as he answered the door "Got it!". He was unsurprised to see Shea poke his head out of the living room and watch. Since Shea did not actually trail him to the door he counted it as progress. His owner had been ridiculously overprotective since he had been taken and still over a year later was not completely over it. He was surprised to see Ezra and Dom there "Hey I wasn't expecting you guys this month." After quite a few instances of going three or six months without seeing each other Ezra had decided to schedule a standing agreement to meet every other month. It was flexible but they were more likely to miss a day than add one and they were not scheduled to get together for another few weeks. Dom looked uncomfortable "We need to talk to you" Ezra interjected "Can we come in and explain to all of you? I would prefer to avoid repetition."

Dom finished speaking and Vanessa jumped up and slapped him hard before storming out of the room. Dom rubbed his face "Your wife packs quite a punch" Shea just scowled. Ezra took over the conversation looking mostly at Lloyd. "I apologize for not coming to you when all this was occurring. I was embarrassed. If it had been constant or if there had been more of a physical component I would have reached out to you. However the way it was I just kept hoping it would get better." Lloyd took some deep breaths to calm down. "Ezra what will it take for you to realize how much you matter to other people? What has to happen?" Ezra looked uncomfortable "It is not the case that I was unaware that my friends would be supportive. If anything rather the contrary. I was concerned that they would never be able to forgive Dominic and I was not prepared to precipitate such an outcome." Lloyd relaxed "I guess I can understand that. You have to share with your friends though Ezra. The bad as well as the good otherwise we're just acquaintances." Ezra smiled at him "I have been told that repeatedly in the last few days and promise I will endeavor to remember that." Then Ezra took a deep breath "I would like to have someone to discuss my feeling on this with, to help me deal with my emotions. Someone who is actually trained but who will not.. " Lloyd laughed "Will not think you are nuts based on the toy relationship with Dom I presume." Ezra nodded "You are quite correct." Lloyd smiled "It will be my pleasure."

"No!" Lloyd sighed "Ezra you have to .." But Ezra was clearly not listening. Without a word the agent got up and left the room obviously intending to leave. Lloyd relaxed back into his chair, he had prepared for just this contingency though he had hoped it would not come to this. He waited and a few minutes later a scowling Ezra was escorted back into the room by Shea. Ezra glared at Lloyd "I did wonder why you wanted Shea named as one of my bodyguards." Lloyd attempted to look innocent "Not going to disobey one of your bodyguards? I am surprised you didn't run for it before he could halt you" Ezra visibly shivered at the idea "Thanks but Dominic made it more than adequately clear the last time I played that trick with Chris. Under no circumstances am I trying that again." Shea interjected then "Good. Then you won't try anything when I tell you that you are to stay here and not leave until Lloyd gives you permission." Ezra looked like he wanted to respond with a smart remark but glanced at Shea's face and fortunately reconsidered.

Once Shea left Lloyd turned to his friend again. "You are insisting on essentially pretending that nothing happened. You have to actually acknowledge and process your emotions." Ezra scowled "So I do not hold onto a grudge and refuse to dwell on the past that seems a reasonable position." Lloyd smiled "Fine then have you even once allowed yourself to get angry over how Dom was treating you? When it happened or later? Be honest Ezra if it had been Shea in Dom's position and me in yours you would be furious with him, mitigating circumstances or not." Ezra looked lost "I concede your point but .... Once I let myself get angry how far does it go. I do not want to let this color our interactions forever." Lloyd was calm though he wanted to scream with rage. He could just guess where Ezra got the idea that once someone disappointed you there was no moving on and it was there forever. Lloyd kept his voice gentle "You have forgiven Dominic for other things which hurt you. You have seen him angry with you and still manage forgive and to let it go. Why is this different?" Ezra looked pensive "Before when he gave in to Mia's demands or handed me off to Neal there was a more than adequate reason, or we were both at fault in some way. This time I did nothing wrong and my team have gone to great lengths to explain to me that his pain is not an excuse for such behavior." Lloyd queried "How did they manage that?" Ezra laughed "A skit of sorts. They had Buck come in with his arm in what appeared to be a cast and treat Vin with contempt and viciousness. When I confronted him he said that he was in pain. When I was adamant that it was not an excuse, well I have had to accept my own words and reactions." Lloyd smiled in satisfaction so the first hurdle was passed. "Ezra you have to allow yourself to be angry with him. Then you can let it go."

Ezra still looked skeptical but sat back and tried Lloyd's little 'visualization exercise'. When Ezra spoke again his voice was thick with rage "He had no right did he? I kept making excuses for him but there is no excuse!" Lloyd was gratified "No there is not." He paused and then addressed Ezra quietly "Can you forgive him anyway?" Ezra looked furious "Why should I?" Lloyd winced this was the tricky bit. It was good that Ezra had finally let his emotions loose but now he had to talk him through the clearly unfamiliar process of forgiveness even when the other person was solely in the wrong. Fortunately he had come prepared "Well he is sorry, he did apologize and he does love you very much." Ezra looked pensive at that "How do I really know that?" Lloyd locked eyes with him "Dominic Toretto cried over being forced to watch you hurt. You know how overwhelmed with grief he would have to be to have that happen. He begged to take your place instead, even in a situation which would have likely resulted in permanent scarring." Ezra abruptly deflated "That is true. Suddenly he smiled a brilliant, open, happy smile. "In that case I have adequate reason to forgive him." Lloyd nodded "Yes, you do."


	10. Epilogue: A Promise

Dom watched as Ezra's breathing evened out into sleep. He found himself almost beginning to hold his breath and then finally, just as he was about to give up, Ezra turned, rolled and curled into Dom. Ever so gently he wrapped his arms around the smaller man but Ezra didn't stir. Finally, after so long he had almost despaired, Ezra again saw him as a place of safety and comfort. Ezra had consciously forgiven him long before, but the excuses he used for Dom had not made it into his subconscious and there he had been abundantly wary of Dom. Dom had known intellectually that understanding why he had behaved so badly would not erase what he had done, even if it had brought forgiveness but it still had hurt him badly that Ezra no longer wanted to be near him when asleep and would startle awake if Dom touched him. Fortunately it seemed that all the talks with Lloyd had helped. When he thought back over all the ways he had hurt this man who loved him he felt overwhelming gratitude to be given another chance. He swore unfortunately not for the first time, that he would never deliberately hurt Ezra again. However this time he had actually tried to take concrete steps to ensure it. He had made Ezra solemnly promise him that he would walk away and even more importantly involve their friends and family before allowing Dom to hurt him again. He hoped it would make the difference. He had also, unbeknownst to Ezra, made an agreement with Fredrick for periodic surveillance checks. That made him relax most of all. He knew that particular homicidal 'father' would ensure that his word was kept.


End file.
